


Four Steps Forward

by alteanroyals



Category: Open Heart (Visual Novels)
Genre: F/M, are there already dozens of fics just like this one?, but that ain't gonna stop me babyyyy, set after their kiss in Mass Kenmore in book 2, yes absolutely
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-15 21:00:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29565084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alteanroyals/pseuds/alteanroyals
Summary: “I just told you, there was no other choice,” he answered, growing slightly exasperated.“Oh, is that so? No other choice?” she grinned conspiratorially. He watched as she plotted his downfall with both confusion and admiration. “Then tell me, Dr. Ramsey…” she continued as she slowly took one step closer to him, her eyes never leaving his. “Would you have kissed Dr. Trinh if she had been in my place?”
Relationships: Ethan Ramsey/Main Character (Open Heart), Ethan Ramsey/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 13





	Four Steps Forward

**Author's Note:**

> Wassup fellas. I started this thing months ago and just now finished it, the night before OH3 premiere lmao. I barely remember what my original idea was for this fic but worry not, i wrote... something. It's my first OH fic and it's so dramatic but hey, so is OH jdkejfsdksfhnj

She shouldn’t be here.

She knew that from the get-go.

And yet, here she was, mustering up the courage to knock on Ethan’s door. Her only solace in this situation was that she had managed to enter the building along with a delivery man instead of having to ask Ethan to buzz her in. Katia would have probably died from embarrassment if he had rejected her right there on the street before she even had the chance to say anything. She liked to think he wouldn’t be that rude, but in that moment, she couldn’t even trust her own thoughts.

Katia had tried to let it go. Really tried. She spent all day trying to focus on anything other than the kiss she had shared with Ethan at Mass Kenmore that same morning. During her shift she threw herself in her work and her patients, but every time she turned a corner, her mind would betray her and hope that Ethan would be standing there, just waiting to tell her off for some dumb mistake she had made. Later, after finally going home and thinking she would be able to relax with her roommates by watching a dumb movie together, the main actor simply decided to be born with blue eyes, which offended her for not being the right shade of blue, _his_ shade of blue. And then, as she lay in bed, ready to end the exhausting day, her bed felt just a bit too lonely.

Katia had tried to let it go, and she failed miserably.

The clock on her screen flashed bright as she stood directly in front of his door.

00:37

_Is it too late? Is he even awake? Will he think I’m crazy? Wait he probably thinks that already-_

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening, revealing a startled and confused Ethan on the other side.

“Rookie? What are you doing here?”

“Hold on, what are _you_ doing here?” Katia asked, realizing that she hadn’t even knocked on the door yet.

“What _I’m_ doing here? This is my apartment, in which I _live_ , and I was just on my way to throw out the garbage,” he said while lifting the trash bag she had failed to notice when he opened the door.

“Oh…”

“Katia, are you drunk?”

“What!? No!” she almost but screamed, desperately trying to salvage her dignity. Just when she needed to have a serious conversation, her own stupidity made her look like she wasn’t even sober. Way to go, Katia. “I am not drunk, Ethan, really… I just need to talk to you,” she said confidently while looking into his eyes. Katia was done playing.

“Very well,” he nodded, noticing the seriousness and urgency in her tone. “However, I still kind of need to throw out the garbage so…”

“OH! Yeah! Right! Go ahead,” Katia mumbled as she moved out of the way to let him go down the hallway.

“Okay,” he said when he came back. “Let’s have a talk,” Ethan stated, gently placing a hand on her arm and motioning for her to enter the apartment.

Katia heard the door close behind her as she ventured further into the living room, stepping away from his touch despite how wrong it felt to be apart from him. She needed to keep a straight head, and with him near her it was almost impossible.

Ethan stood a couple steps behind Katia, waiting for her next move, as he didn’t dare to make her uncomfortable. She turned around to face him and Ethan couldn’t help but notice the way she was clutching the strap of her purse as if her life depended on it.

“Kat, are you alright?” he asked tentatively.

She almost melted at the worry visible in his eyes. Ethan worried about her.

“Yeah, I’m alri-”

Ethan worried about her, and that’s exactly why they needed to have this conversation.

“Actually, no. I am not alright, Ethan.”

His mind raced with a million possibilities as he took a step forwards and inspected her for any injuries.

“What? Are you hurt? Are you sick?”

Katia realized then how he could have misinterpreted what she had said. She regretted her choice of words instantly. If there was one thing Ethan didn’t need in his life, it was another person he cared about becoming ill.

“No no, there’s nothing wrong with me. Don’t worry, Ethan,” his posture relaxed as she held out her hands to reassure him. “What I mean is that something has been nagging at my mind all damn day and I won’t be able to think properly until I get some answers.”

Ethan stared at her determined face, processing how her feelings echoed his so perfectly. When he didn’t answer, she threw the question that haunted her every thought out in the open.

“Why did you kiss me, Ethan?” Katia asked with a soft voice, dropping the tough act without realizing.

“We were in a rough spot and our cover was about to be blown,” he shrugged his shoulders as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Ethan sure knew how to enrage her.

“Bullshit,” she said calmly, knowing he wouldn’t admit the truth on the first try. If they had been in any other situation she would have laughed at the utterly appalled expression on his face.

“Excuse me, Dr. Franich?”

“Don’t you dare ‘ _Dr. Franich’_ me right now, Ramsey,” Katia talked back, offended at the use of her title. “I’m gonna ask again. Why did you kiss me, Ethan?”

“I _just_ told you, there was no other choice,” he answered, growing slightly exasperated.

“Oh, is that so? No other choice?” she grinned conspiratorially. He watched as she plotted his downfall with both confusion and admiration. “Then tell me, Dr. Ramsey…” she continued as she slowly took one step closer to him, her eyes never leaving his. “Would you have kissed Dr. Trinh if she had been in my place?”

They were playing a game and they both knew who was winning.

Still, Ethan was going to go down with dignity.

“No, I wouldn’t have,” he answered, matching her determination.

One step closer.

“Would you have kissed Dr. Varma?”

“No, I wouldn’t have.”

One step closer.

“Would you have kissed Harper?” Katia poked him in the chest with her finger as she pronounced the name carefully.

She was playing with fire, but none of them minded the burn.

“No. I. Wouldn’t. Have. Kissed. Harper,” Ethan answered unwaveringly, knowing full well she was testing him. He could tell she was pleased, and maybe slightly shocked, with his answer because of the way her smile widened and the sparkle she usually had when she cracked a case returned to her eyes.

One final step closer.

Their bodies only centimeters away from each other, they silently stood there in a staring contest, waiting for her to ask the unavoidable question once again.

“Then why did you kiss _me_ , Ethan?”

Her eyes met his with defiance, but was surprised to find that the ones in front of her only displayed vulnerability and honesty. All the walls between them came tumbling down as Ethan delicately cupped her face with both hands, his fingers tangling with her dark hair. Her heart pounded strongly in her chest, threatening to explode from the anxiousness she felt as she waited for his answer.

“Because you are the only one I want to kiss, Katia,” Ethan whispered so softly she wasn’t sure she heard him correctly.

The revelation hung in the air, both of them hopeful and scared at the same time of what was to come. However, their uncertainty ended when their lips crashed together, dissipating any thoughts and worries from their minds. They didn’t know who had leaned in first, but they certainly didn’t give a damn either, not while they were finally back in each other’s arms.

Katia linked her hands behind his neck, pulling him closer to her. When it came to Ethan, she never knew when their next kiss would be, so she made sure to make the most out of every chance she could get. Their kisses were slow but needy, unlike the urgent one they had shared at Mass Kenmore. This time, there was no cover, no one else but them, only Ethan and Katia, and yet…

Ethan broke the kiss and started to pull away from her. Katia’s stomach dropped and the fear of losing him again overwhelmed her.

“Don’t,” she whispered harshly as she tightened her hold on him, keeping her eyes closed.

“Kat, please,” he pleaded with a heavy heart.

“Don’t push me away like you always do. _Please_.”

“Kat, look at me,” he demanded. She forced herself to open her eyes and face the man who brought so much happiness yet so much pain to her life. “You know we can’t.”

“We!?” Katia exclaimed pulling away from him altogether. She hated how lonely she suddenly felt. “It’s not a matter of _we_ , it’s a matter of _you_! _You_ are the one who can’t do this! _You_ are the one who doesn’t believe in us!” she pointed an accusatory finger at him, feeling the rage coming to the surface.

“I am just trying to do what’s best for you! Why can’t you see that!?”

“Because you are wrong!”

“Wrong? You are a great doctor who is amazing at her job, I want to protect that!”

If she hadn’t been so mad at him, she would have savored the compliment from her mentor, but this was not the right time.

“I don’t give a damn about my job!”

Katia watched as her words made Ethan take a step back, his shocked eyes wide open, refusing to believe her statement.

“Rookie… you can’t say that.”

“Why? Does it scare you? Huh? Does it scare you that I would drop _everything_ in a second just for you!?”

No longer had she finished the question that she felt a pair of strong hands gripping her shoulders tightly, but not enough to hurt her.

“YES! Of course it scares me!” Katia watched as his shoulders dropped in defeat and his head hung low, looking down at the floor and avoiding her gaze. “It scares me so much.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s not worth it… **_I_** am not worth it,” Ethan whispered so softly that she only heard him because of their proximity.

It broke her heart in ways she never thought possible to hear those words coming from the man she loved. Katia couldn’t have possibly imagined how lowly the amazing Dr. Ramsey thought of himself when she first met him, but damn if she wasn’t going to try and fix that.

“Ethan, look at me.”

“Rookie, I really don’t think th-“

“ _Look_ at me, Ethan,” she insisted firmly.

He sighed before standing a little taller and apprehensively lifting his head to look her in the eye, his hands never leaving their place on her shoulders.

“You are lying.”

Ethan stayed silent as he gave her a quizzical look.

“You are lying. You have no control over what I consider or do not consider worth it. That means you are lying because you, Ethan…” Katia paused and placed her hands on each side of his face. “You are so worth it.”

The way his eyes scanned over her face for any trace of a lie told her that he didn’t fully believe her, too blinded by the pain in his heart to see the truth in her words.

“Why?” Ethan whispered in a last attempt to understand.

“Why? Well, for starters because I love you, you big idiot!” Katia couldn’t contain the smile that threatened to appear as she threw her feelings out in the open.

All and any thoughts were thrown out the window the moment Ethan’s lips met hers. The kiss was slow like their previous one, but this one felt different. Something had shifted. This time, they were on the same page.

Their foreheads remained pressed together even after they broke the kiss to regain their breaths, panting in an almost synchronized manner.

“Well, it appears we have a problem because… I very much love you too,” Ethan confessed with the most honest and unrestrained smile Katia had ever seen gracing his face.

“It appears we do, but we will deal with it _together_ ,” she said as she offered her hand for him to take.

Ethan interlocked his fingers with hers and gently squeezed her hand as a silent reassurance and a promise that he would never let go again.

“Yes. Together.”

**Author's Note:**

> end scene baby


End file.
